Author: cnadmin

A children’s book titled “? e??? t?? ?a???a?” (Marina’s wish) is this year’s Cypriot recommendation to the Readers of Europe campaign for 2022, run by the Library of the Council of the European Union.

Every year the Permanent Representations of the 27 member states in Brussels are invited to recommend books from their countries to read over the summer, with a different theme every year. The theme for the third year of the Readers of Europe campaign was ‘Discover something new’, the idea being that every Permanent Representation selects a book from their country by an author who has published their first work within the last five years.

The book chosen by Cyprus this year is a short book for children written by Alexia Papachristoforou and illustrated by Effie Lada, and is the story of a girl called Marina who makes a wish that her brother was like all the other children, until his actions help her to accept him the way he is.

The book is a great tool to start an open discussion with children about compassion and acceptance, the Library of the Council of the EU notes on its website.

Alexia Papachristoforou is from Pano Platres, Cyprus, works as a teacher and this is her first book. Effie Lada is an illustrator from Greece who specialises in children’s books.

The rest of the year’s recommendations are posted daily on the website of the Library of the Council of the EU.

In 2020, the Cypriot recommendation was “??e??e??? p???????µ????” (Free Besieged by Andreas Georgiades-Kyproleon. The 2021 recommendation was “??a ???assa ??’ ??a? ?a???” (A sea upon a time) by Loucas Fourlas.

SOURCE: CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides has been hosted at the Foreign Office by the UK Minister for Europe Graham Stuart, becoming the first foreign official to meet with the recently appointed UK minister.

“We discussed the bilateral relations and we ascertained that they currently are at a very good level. We talked about the upcoming Security Council resolution regarding Cyprus, as Britain is the so-called ‘penholder’, the country preparing the first draft and we had a useful exchange. We also talked about Europe in general, about the UK outside the EU and about various other issues,” the Cypriot Foreign Minister told the Cyprus News Agency following his meeting with Mr Stuart on Thursday afternoon.

The two Ministers had their first encounter on Wednesday evening, during an event on Cyprus organised at the Houses of Parliament by the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cyprus.

Kasoulides noted that it was a privilege for him to be the first Foreign Minister to meet the new Minister for Europe and for the UK Cypriots to have Mr Stuart at their event on what was his first public engagement in his new role.

Referring to Wednesday’s gathering, he hailed it as “very successful”, noting the presence of around 20 British MPs and peers. “We had the opportunity to discuss the Cyprus issue, the new situation in Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the developments in our region and mainly the bilateral ties between Cyprus and Britain,” said Kasoulides.

Prior to his visit to the Foreign Office, the Cypriot Foreign Minister was received by the Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who only recently became the first UK Speaker to officially visit Cyprus.

SOURCE: CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

The European Commission has today adopted a joint (High Representative-Commission) proposal for a new package of measures to maintain and strengthen the effectiveness of the EU’s six wide-ranging and unprecedented packages of sanctions against Russia.

Today’s “maintenance and alignment” package clarifies a number of provisions to strengthen legal certainty for operators and enforcement by Member States. It also further aligns the EU’s sanctions with those of our allies and partners, in particular in the G7. Importantly, the package reiterates the Commission’s determined stance to protect food security around the globe.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said: “Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine continues unabated. Therefore, we are proposing today to tighten our hard-hitting EU sanctions against the Kremlin, enforce them more effectively and extend them until January 2023. Moscow must continue to pay a high price for its aggression.”

Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said: “The EU’s sanctions are tough and hard-hitting. We continue to target those close to Putin and the Kremlin. Today’s package reflects our coordinated approach with international partners including the G7. In addition to these measures, I will also present proposals to Council for the listing of more individuals and entities, with their assets frozen and ability to travel curtailed.”

In more detail

Today’s package will introduce a new import ban on Russian gold, while reinforcing our dual use and advanced technology export controls. In doing so, it will reinforce the alignment of EU sanctions with those of our G7 partners. It will also strengthen reporting requirements to tighten EU asset freezes.

The package also reiterates that EU sanctions do not target in any way the trade in agricultural products between third countries and Russia. Likewise, the text clarifies the exact scope of some financial and economic sanctions.

Finally, it is proposed to extend the current EU sanctions for six months, until the next review at the end of January 2023.

The package will now be discussed by Member States in the Council in view of its adoption.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Today, as part of the Commission’s ongoing efforts to provide support in the area of health, Commissioner Kyriakides visited Ukraine to meet Minister of Health Viktor Liashko and pay a visit to a medical centre for children as well as a patient rehabilitation centre. At this occasion, the Commission and the Ukrainian Government have signed an agreement associating Ukraine to the EU4Health programme. This agreement will open access for Ukraine to EU funding in the area of health. This will enable the Ukrainian health system to respond to immediate needs and contribute to long-term recovery. The programme has a total budget of €5.3 billion for 2021-27.

Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety said: “What I witnessed today during my visit in the resilience and stoicism of health professionals and patients was truly humbling. I have been deeply moved and saddened by the pain and suffering I saw as a result of the barbaric and senseless Russian invasion. With the EU4Health programme agreement signed today, Ukraine will be able to quickly benefit from EU health-related funding to immediately support its health care sector as well as support the reconstruction in the longer-term. The Russian war in Ukraine is causing unimaginable physical and mental suffering for millions of people, and it is putting tremendous pressure on a severely damaged public health system. Today, as we deepen our health cooperation, we are sending another clear signal of the EU’s full and unwavering support to Ukraine”.

Minister of Health of Ukraine, Viktor Liashko, said: “Ukraine’s participation in this programme is another example of how European integration will improve the lives of our citizens through access to relevant EU funds. The powerful EU support that we are seeing today means possibilities to receive financial assistance for the modernisation and recovery of our healthcare system”.

With the entry into force of the agreement associating Ukraine to EU4Health, the Ukrainian health authorities and wider health community will be able to fully benefit from the funding opportunities under the programme, on equal terms as their counterparts from EU Members States, Norway, and Iceland. The agreement will be retroactive to 1 January 2022, allowing Ukraine to start participating in funding opportunities immediately under the EU4Health Work Programme 2022.

The EU4Health programme will support mitigating immediate combat-related damage and finance Ukrainian public and private projects helping with Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction.

Representatives from Ukraine will be associated to the political debates with EU Member States during the preparation of future annual work programmes, thereby strengthening cooperation and facilitating implementation of the actions.

Background

In comparison with the three previous health programmes, the EU4Health Programme, adopted in May 2021 with a budget of €5.3 billion for 2021-2027, represents an unprecedented level of financial commitment from the Union in the area of health. EU4Health will make a significant contribution to the EU’s post-COVID-19 recovery and contribute to long-term health challenges by building stronger, more resilient, and more accessible health systems.

EU4Health is implemented through annual work programmes. The first two work programmes have already been adopted, making more than €1.1 Billion available for funding (€311.8 million for 2021; and €835.5 million for 2022). The EU4Health actions fall under four strands: disease prevention, crisis preparedness, health systems, and digital, with a cross-cutting focus on cancer.

Ukraine made an official request for association to the EU4Health programme on 9 September 2021.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The total number of students in higher education in Cyprus during 2020-2021 reached 54,235, of which 78% were studying in universities and 22% in Institutions of Tertiary Education. Compared to the previous academic year (2019-2020) the number of students showed an increase of 2%.

According to the Ministry of Education, students in the academic year 2020-2021 went to either one of the nine universities, of which three are public and six are private, or to one of the 50 Institutions of Tertiary Education of which five are public and 45 are private.

The majority of students are Cypriot citizens (43.91%), 39.85% are citizens of EU countries and 16.25 % come from third countries.

Although the number of Cypriot students remains stable, the total number of students from EU countries studying in higher education institutions in Cyprus shows a steady increase in the last eight years.

The same applies for students from third countries, except in the academic year 2020-2021 when their number declined probably due to the pandemic.

Regarding the field of study, the majority of university students attended study programs in Business Administration and Law (28%), Education (24%) and Health Sciences (15%).

In the Institutions of Tertiary Education the majority of students studied Business Administration and Law (64%), Services (19%) and Engineering and Construction (6%).

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The US House has approved an amendment for blocking F-16 sales to Turkey.

The amendment passed with 244 votes in favour (184 from Democrats and 60 from Republicans) to 179 against (30 from Democrats and 149 from Republicans).

Once the House has passed this version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the Senate must approve it, and then it will become a US law at the end of the year and will be included in the budget of the US Department of Defense.

Congressman Frank Palone wrote on Twitter: “We cannot allow Erdogan to continue using Turkey’s NATO status to avoid consequences for his actions”.

Nicole Malliotakis expressed her satisfaction over the House’s approval.

“It was an honor to be with Ambassador Papadopoulou and my good friend Gus Billirakis as we celebrated the passage of our bipartisan amendment that deters the sale of F-16s and military equipment to Turkey as long it continues its aggression in the Eastern Mediterranean,”. she noted

Congressman John Sarbanes posted: “Today the House passed an amendment I introduced with my colleagues to prevent Joe Biden from selling any F-16 fighter jets or related technology to Turkey until it is held accountable for its destabilizing actions against our allies. I will continue to push for not selling them”.

Carolyn Maloney wrote on Twitter: “Big news.The House just passed an amendment to restrict F-16 sales and modernization to Turkey”.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The European Commission has revised, in its summer forecasts, Cyprus’ real GDP growth in 2022 to 3.2% upwards, which is almost one percentage point higher than its spring forecasts, while it estimates real GDP at 2.1% for 2023, according to a statement by the Ministry of Finance.

?he Finance Ministry notes that “Cyprus is among the countries with the third highest upward revision of its forecasts in 2022”.

Meanwhile, according to the European Commission’s forecasts, inflation is expected to rise to 7 per cent in 2022 and then slow down to 3.3 per cent in 2023.

In the statement the Ministry said that according to the European Commission’s summer forecasts released on Friday the Cypriot economy “surprised positively in the first quarter of 2022”.

It adds that Cyprus’ real GDP growth in 2022 is above the average for both the EU and the Eurozone, which, it stresses, “demonstrates the strong fiscal position with which the year started, its resilience and its ability to adapt to difficult economic conditions”.

“Despite the difficult global economic climate, the economy moved upwards as a result of a faster-than-expected recovery in tourism and the continued expansion of exports of other services, especially business services and information technology,” the Ministry underlines.

It notes that the main drivers of growth are expected to be domestic demand and, to a lesser extent, net exports of services.

Investment, particularly in the construction sector, is expected to be affected by the gradual tightening of economic conditions, supply chain disruptions and extremely high prices of construction materials, according to the Ministry.

Nevertheless, it is added, on the positive side, the implementation of the Cyprus Recovery and Resilience Plan is expected to support investment.

As regards private consumption, the Ministry of Finance says it expects it to be negatively affected by high inflation and erosion of purchasing power, although household income, it notes, “is supported by the measures taken by the government to address high energy prices and the partial wage indexation to be implemented in January 2023”.

In relation to 2023, the Ministry says that the growth rate estimate has declined in all countries and reflects the longer recovery period from the crisis.

Regarding the European Commission’s forecasts for 7% inflation in 2022 and 3.3% in 2023, the Ministry says that the European Commission expects that the high prices seen this year due to higher energy costs will not persist, but will gradually decline next year as the situation in commodity markets improves.

In addition, the Ministry of Finance said that the inflation orecast for Cyprus is the 5th lowest in the Eurozone and below the EU and Eurozone average.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The Cyprus Composite Leading Economic Index (CCLEI) recorded a year-over-year decrease of 0.6% in June 2022, after year-over-year increases of 1.4% in May and 3.9% in April 2022, based on the recent and revised data, according to the Economic Research Centre of the University of Cyprus.

According to the press release, the effects of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the resurgence of the pandemic, and the recent extreme restrictive measures in China are reflected in the negative year-over-year growth rate of CCLEI in June 2022.

In particular, the international Brent Crude oil price hit a new high record in June 2022. At the same time, the Economic Sentiment Indicators (ESI) in the euro area and Cyprus, which worsened in June 2022 compared to June last year, also contribute to the negative year-over-year growth rate of the CCLEI. The deterioration of the ESI is attributed to the sentiment downturn in all sectors, and especially, in that of consumption.

Moreover, a negative input to the year-over-year growth rate of CCLEI is also the temperature adjusted volume of electricity production, which worsened in June 2022 compared to June 2021.

In contrast, most of the CCLEI’s domestic components contribute to the restraint of the CCLEI’s drop, recording an acceleration in their growth rate in June 2022 compared to the corresponding month of last year.

More specifically, the growth rate of total property sales contracts, the value of credit card transactions, as well as according to preliminary data, the growth rate of tourists’ arrivals and retail sales volume, have accelerated.

The Economic Research Centre notes that the CCLEI for June 2022 is estimated based on the availability of the Brent Crude oil price, the Economic Sentiment Indicators (ESI) in the euro area and in Cyprus, the total number of property sales contracts, the value of credit card transactions, as well as the high frequency data of the passengers’ arrivals and the temperature-adjusted volume of electricity production in June, while the retail sales volume is estimated based on the latest available information in a series of various economic indicators.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, an Important Project of Common European Interest (‘IPCEI’) to support research and innovation and first industrial deployment in the hydrogen technology value chain. The project, called “IPCEI Hy2Tech” was jointly prepared and notified by fifteen Member States: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain.

The Member States will provide up to €5.4 billion in public funding, which is expected to unlock additional €8.8 billion in private investments. As part of this IPCEI, 35 companies with activities in one or more Member States, including small and medium-sized enterprises (‘SMEs’) and start-ups, will participate in 41 projects.

Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “Hydrogen has a huge potential going forward. It is an indispensable component for the diversification of energy sources and the green transition. Investing in such innovative technologies can however be risky for one Member State or one company alone. This is where State aid rules for IPCEI have a role to play. Today’s project is an example of truly ambitious European cooperation for a key common objective. It also shows how competition policy works hand in hand with breakthrough innovation.”

Commissioner for the internal market, Thierry Breton said: “Promoting hydrogen development and deployment will boost jobs and growth throughout Europe while contributing to our green and resilience agenda. It enables the clean transition of energy-intensive industries and increases our independence from fossil fuels. With this IPCEI, we see EU hydrogen production moving “from lab to fab”; and our industry turning technological mastery into commercial leadership. And of course, we are not only supporting hydrogen through funding. We have also made decisive progress on building partnerships through the Clean Hydrogen Alliance and are developing EU-wide rules for enabling the hydrogen market and creating dedicated infrastructure. Because we know what is at stake: Europe’s position as a leading region for the hydrogen industrial transformation.”

The IPCEI will cover a wide part of the hydrogen technology value chain, including (i) the generation of hydrogen, (ii) fuel cells, (iii) storage, transportation and distribution of hydrogen, and (iv) end-users applications, in particular in the mobility sector. It is expected to contribute to the development of important technological breakthroughs, including new highly efficient electrode materials, more performant fuel cells, innovative transport technologies, among which first time roll out hydrogen mobility ones. The IPCEI is expected to create approximately 20.000 direct jobs.

Commission assessment

The Commission assessed the proposed project under EU State aid rules, more specifically its Communication on Important Projects of Common European Interest.

Where private initiatives supporting breakthrough innovation fail to materialise because of the significant risks such projects entail, IPCEI enable Member States to jointly fill the gap to overcome these market failures. At the same time, they ensure that the EU economy at large benefits from the investments and limit potential distortions to competition.

The Commission has found that the IPCEI Hy2Tech fulfils the required conditions set out in its Communication. In particular, the Commission concluded that:

The project contributes to a common objective by supporting a key strategic value chain for the future of Europe, as well as the objectives of key EU policy initiatives such as the Green Deal, the EU Hydrogen Strategy and REPowerEU.

All 41 projects part on the IPCEI are highly ambitious, as they aim at developing technologies and processes that go beyond what the market currently offers and will allow major improvements in performance, safety, environmental impact as well as on cost efficiencies.

The IPCEI also involves significant technological and financial risks, and public support is therefore necessary to provide incentives to companies to carry out the investment.

Aid to individual companies is limited to what is necessary, proportionate and does not unduly distort competition. In particular, the Commission has verified that the total planned maximum aid amounts are in line with the eligible costs of the projects and their funding gaps. Furthermore, if large projects covered by the IPCEI turn out to be very successful, generating extra net revenues, the companies will return part of the aid received to the respective Member State (claw-back mechanism).

The results of the project will be widely shared by participating companies benefitting from the public support with the European scientific community and industry beyond the companies and countries that are part of the ICPEI. As a result, positive spill-over effects will be generated throughout Europe.

On this basis, the Commission concluded that the project is in line with EU State aid rules.

Funding, beneficiaries and amounts

The IPCEI will involve 41 projects from 35 companies, including 8 small and medium-sized enterprises (‘SMEs’) and start-ups, with activities in one or more Member States. The direct participants will closely cooperate with each other through numerous planned collaborations, and with over 300 external partners, such as universities, research organisations and SMEs across Europe.

The timelines of this IPCEI vary in function of the individual projects and the companies involved.

The direct participants, the Member States supporting them and the different technology fields are as follows:

More information on the amount of aid to individual participants will be available in the public version of the Commission’s decision once the Commission has agreed with Member States and third parties on any confidential business secrets that need to be removed.

Background

The Commission’s approval of this IPCEI is part of the wider Commission efforts to support the development of an innovative and sustainable European hydrogen industry.

In 2018, the Commission established the Strategic Forum for IPCEI, a joint body of representatives from Member States and industry. In November 2019, the Strategic Forum published its report and identified, among others, Hydrogen Technologies and Systems as one of several key strategic value chains for Europe. In July 2020, the Commission published its EU Hydrogen Strategy, setting ambitious goals for clean hydrogen production and use, and launched the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance, bringing together the European hydrogen community (industry, civil society, public authorities).

Jointly with the policy priorities set out in the European Green Deal, notably in terms of environmental sustainability as well as the green transition of industry and transport sectors to climate neutrality, these initiatives played an important role for the objectives of the IPCEI Hy2Tech and facilitated the creation of industrial partnerships.

Today’s decision is the first IPCEI project approved on the basis of the 2021 State aid IPCEI Communication, setting out criteria under which several Member States can support transnational projects of strategic significance for the EU under Article 107(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The Communication aims at encouraging Member States to support highly innovative projects that make a clear contribution to economic growth, jobs and competitiveness.

The IPCEI Communication complements other State aid rules such as the Climate, Energy and Environment Aid Guidelines, the General Block Exemption Regulation and the Research, Development and Innovation (R&D&I) Framework, which allow supporting innovative projects whilst ensuring that potential competition distortions are limited.

The IPCEI Communication supports investments for R&D&I and first industrial deployment on condition that the projects receiving this funding are highly innovative and do not cover mass production or commercial activities. They also require extensive dissemination and spillover commitments of new knowledge throughout the EU, as well as a detailed competition assessment to minimise any undue distortions in the internal market.

The non-confidential version of the decision will be made available under the case numbers SA.64625 (Austria), SA.64651 (Greece), SA.64642 (Belgium), SA.64644 (Italy), SA.64640 (Czechia), SA.64649 (Netherlands), SA.64633 (Denmark), SA.64626 (Poland), SA.64646 (Estonia), SA.64753 (Portugal), SA.64632 (Finland), SA.64635 (Slovakia), SA.64671 (France), SA.64624 (Spain) and SA.64647 (Germany) in the State Aid Register on the competition website once any confidentiality issues have been resolved. New publications of state aid decisions on the internet and in the Official Journal are listed in the State Aid Weekly e-News.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

A 27-athlete mission is participating in the XVI Summer European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) that will be held in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia from 24 to 30 July 2022.

Around 2.5 thousand athletes from 48 countries are taking part in the Festival.

During a press conference on Thursday, chairman of the Cyprus Olympic Committee, George Chrysostomou said the games are the biggest multi-competition event for young people. He also expressed hope that Cypriot athletes will once again honour Cyprus overseas.

Cyprus is participating with 27 athletes in seven from the eleven sports including tennis, gymnastics, swimming, badminton, cycling, track and field and judo.

The opening ceremony will be held on Saturday, 23 July near the SNP (Slovak National Uprising) Memorial, park and will be broadcast live on the Slovak national TV. All athletes will return home on Sunday, 31st July.

Source: Cyprus News Agency